1. Cross Reference to Related Applications
This application is related to (A) commonly assigned, copending patent application Serial No. 644,096, entitled "Video Disk Apparatus Providing Organized Picture Playback" and (B) commonly assigned, copending patent application Ser. No. 644,166, entitled "Method For Editing Video Still Pictures," both filed on even date herewith.
2. Field of the Invention
The invention pertains to apparatus and method for establishing an automatic, electronic display of a series of still pictures, especially still pictures prerecorded on one or more video disks.
3. Description Relative to the Prior Art
Video still imaging is a proposed form of imaging that offers the amateur photographer a convenient way of displaying a collection of still pictures. A typical video still camera uses a small magnetic disk as its memory device (see "Electronic Still Camera" by Kihara, N. et. al. Journal of Applied Photographic Engineering, Vol. 9, No. 5, Oct. 1983, 159-163). A companion player is envisioned which, when a recorded disk is inserted into it, converts the signals recorded on the disk into a television signal from which the display is generated. Each disk may store not only a number of still pictures but certain picture-related data representing display attributes such as the time allotted to viewing each picture, the order of viewing, titles and text. (Such picture-related data may be contained with each picture on the picture track or on one or more special tracks on the disk). Most video players will have a digital processor--usually a microcomputer--operated according to stored programs. The picture-related data is generated and stored by operation of the digital processor, usually after a number of pictures have been collected on the disk. In doing this, the pictures are edited one by one by specifying their display attributes, and the corresponding picture-related data is recorded on the disk. By processing the picture-related data from the disk, the player can subsequently provide customized, and automatic, viewing of pictures collected on the disk according to the specified display attributes.
Such a picture collection is relatively small. A video disk contains, for example, twenty-five full-frame pictures or fifty single-field pictures on concentric tracks. The specification of the display attributes is relatively manageable for such a small collection. However, being quite compact, video disks lend themselves to organized storage in groups. Accordingly, it is desirable to display them in multi-disk groups. In the case of a typical multi-disk player, a container of thirty disks is inserted into the player (which is adapted to remove a selected disk and display its pictures). For a thirty-disk container, this means that the player can access as many as 1500 pictures. With so many pictures, it is desirable to separate the pictures into categories of like image content, that is, into picture albums, and group the several albums into a video picture file.
Editing and organizing such a large collection of pictures into a video picture file becomes a complicated matter, particularly if each picture requires assignment of category and several display attributes. Since there are so many pictures, they can be grouped into many, say twenty or more, albums. Ordinarily, the assignment of category requires that the picture be displayed in combination with the choice of album assignments and certain other attributes, like a skip option for unsuitable pictures. The problem this causes is two-fold. The space allocated for twenty or more albums occupies a large part of the television screen and accordingly eliminates a large part of the picture. Seeing part of a picture is not always enough when the assignment of category depends on assessing the image content of the whole picture. Secondly, the remaining picture is sometimes rendered off-color because the automatic gain control circuit in the television receiver attempts to control the gain of the receiver amplifiers according to the average level of the received signal. Since the received signal is as much as half text, its average level is influenced by the signal level of the text. The remaining part of the display devoted to the picture is often adversely affected. Thus, even when the partial-picture observed is enough to make an assignment, its off-color rendition makes evaluation of its suitability for any album difficult.